Among the chief arguments against President Obama’s historic nuclear deal with Iran was an emotional appeal by Republicans who insisted that the release of American prisoners being held in Iran should have been a deal-breaker.
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Mr Obama said that Iran had “fulfilled key commitments” under last year’s nuclear deal, including filling in a plutonium reactor with concrete, removing two thirds of its uranium enrichment machines, and ditching large parts of its enriched Uranium stockpile. “Iran has again shown the world that taking American hostages while Barack Obama is president can yield a diplomatic and military windfall”.
Obama said American officials, including Secretary of State John Kerry, had pushed for the Americans’ release in every meeting with Iranian officials.
And while the nuclear agreement lifts global sanctions, other penalties imposed unilaterally by the US, over Iran’s missile development and support for terrorist groups, remain in place.
The president spoke one day after Iran fulfilled its obligations in the worldwide nuclear deal that will lift crippling economic sanctions and allow Tehran to recoup $100 billion in frozen assets. In settling the claim, which had been tied up at the Hague Tribunal since 1981, the U.S.is returning the money in the fund along with “a roughly $1.3 billion compromise on the interest”, the statement said.
Four U.S. citizens freed by Iran – including Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian – were released Sunday, according to a senior administration official and their families.
The president said the USA would continue to seek information about Robert Levinson, an American who went missing in Iran almost a decade ago.
“When it comes to the missile program, they are under U.N. Security Council sanctions, and if they are violating it – which the evidence seems to suggest – they should be held accountable”, she said.
The Post reported that the flight out of Iran was delayed because Rezaian’s mother Mary and wife Yeganeh, who also were on the airplane, initially did not appear on the flight manifest.
The White House issued a statement on its foreign policy webpage that because of the Iran deal, it would take Iran 12 months or more to gather enough fissile material to build a weapon. A fifth American, student Matthew Trevithick, who was released separately, appears to have left Iran before the others.
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Obama said he hoped Iran would move into a more cooperative relationship with the world community on the back of this diplomatic breakthrough.
